3

If we look at different surahs of the Qur'an we may find them addressing many topics: For example surat al-Kahf we have the stories of the people of the cave, (the people of ar-Raqeem are also quoted and nevertheless this could be considered as one story as this is the majority view: people of ar-Raqeem are the people of al-Kahf -cave- -see fore example islamqa #21817 -others say their mentioning is a reference to a similar story), the story of the two people one of them having two gardens, the story of dhul- Qarnain, the story of Musa and al-Khidr etc. while surat Yusuf covers the whole story of Yusuf from A-Z, but I'd count that as one story.
Basically story as I would defined it is more than a mentioning of some people it should be a story with at least some content expressing what happened to them or what these people say or did.

My question is: Which surah(s) of the quran is/are addressing/covering the most stories of Prophets and other real -historical- persons?

Please consider adding detailed information: Like which stories (a short summary 1-2 lines), in which verses.

1
  • 2
    What do you consider a story? For example, is 11:59-60 a story or just a passing mention of Aad?
    – The Z
    May 5, 2018 at 11:50

1 Answer 1

4

Surah A’raaf (The Heights) has stories of Prophet Adam at the start, moves on, later the Prophet Nuh’s story comes, then Prophet Hud’s, then Prophet Saleh, then Prophet Lut, then Prophet Shu’aib, then talks about how all these towns were destroyed, then gives a good 6 (or more) page story about Prophet Musa (peace be upon all of them).

Surah Hud (A.S.): on the fourth page has Prophet Nuh’s story, right after is Prophet Hud’s, then Prophet Salih’s, then Prophet Ibrahim’s and Lut’s stories, then Prophet Shu’aib’s stories, then a brief mention of Prophet Musa and Fir’aun.

Surah Hijr (Stone Valley) It has on the second page a story of Prophet Adam’s creation, Prophet Ibrahim and Lut’s stories come after Adam’s, after that comes the story or mention of the People of the Ayekah (tree), which was the community in Madyan or the community which Prophet Shu’aib got sent to, after that the People of Hijr (a stone valley) are mentioned, most exegetes refer this people to Thamud, the community Prophet Saleh got sent to.

Surah Anbiyaa’ (Prophets): First story we can see is Prophet Musa and Harun’s story, then Ibrahim’s, then how Ibrahim got Ishaq and Ya’qub later, then a summary of Lut’s mission, then a summary of Nuh’s story, then a small stories for Dawud and Sulaiman, then a summary of Ayyub’s story, then mentions the righteous people (and prophets) Ismael, Idris, and Dhul-Kifl, then summary of the Man of the Fish’s (Yunus) mission, then Zakariyya and how he got Yahya, then mentions Maryam and how Allah chose her and Prophet ‘Isa as a sign for all the worlds.

Surah Shu’araa’ (Poets): First story we can see is Prophet Musa’s story, then Ibrahim’s, then Nuh’s, then Hud’s, then Saleh’s, then Lut’s, then Shu’aib’s.

Surah Saaffat (Rangers): First story is Prophet Nuh’s, then Prophet Ibrahim’s story with Ismael’s mentioned within, then says how Ibrahim got Ishaq later, then Prophet Musa and Harun’s story, then Prophet Ilyas’s story, then Prophet Lut’s, then Prophet Yunus’s.

There are other Surahs which have stories of prophets, but less like Surah Aale Imran (Family of Imran) (contains Zakariyya, Yahya, Maryam, and Isa’s stories) and Surahs which are specifically for one prophet like Surah Yusuf and Surah Qasas (Chapter of the Story (the story is referring to Musa’s story)).

Biblical names of the Islamic prophets and cities mentioned:

Adam - Adam

Idris - Enoch

Nuh - Noah

Hud - thought to be Eber

Saleh - thought to be Menusalakh, Salah, Shelah, Sala (all different names for the same person mentioned in the Bible)

Ibrahim - Abraham

Lut - Lot

Ismael - Ishmael

Ishaq - Isaac

Yaqub - Jacob/Israel

Yusuf - Joseph

Ayyub - Job

Shuaib - thought to be Jethro

Madyan - Midian

Firaun - Pharoah of the Exodus or Pharoah of Moses

Musa - Moses

Harun - Aaron

Ilyas - Elias/Elijah

Dawud - David

Sulaiman - Solomon

Dhul-Kifl - thought to be Ezekiel

Yunus - Jonah

Zakariyya - Zechariah

Yahya - John the Baptist

Imran - Grandfather of the Prophet Jesus and father of Mary (note: Islam has a similar person also called Imran which is the father of Moses and Aaron, so do not get confused. Also Moses also has a sister called Mary so it is very confusing)

Maryam - Mary

Isa - Jesus

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .